A schedule for my ADD/ADHD boys with SPD what do you think?

[nitascool]

They are working ahead of grade level but have a real hard time with our current schedule which is very lax. Their Psychologist told us that they really need to have a strict schedule with each subject lasting only 15 minutes and giving lots of brakes, but that they should be spending most of their day doing school. Every other week we have a GI, PT or OT appointment on those days we won't do any school. It averages to 4 1/2 hours of school work a day including: seat work, dvd's, cd's, cdrom's, art, and music. It doesn't leave a lot of time during normal school hours for the kids to have creative play, but it seems that they have a hard time when given time to play unstructured.

Here's what I have for them:
Things I want to teach them
Things they asked for

8:00am
Bible Study 1/2 Hour
15 Min. Devotional or study
15 Min. Bible Quiz (they are on a team)

8:30am
Sensory Diet

8:45am
Memory Work 5 Min.
5 Min. Poetry (Mon.-Fri.)

8:50am
Morning Math 1/2 Hour
5 Min. Skip Counting Songs (Mon. - Fri. 9 songs)
10 Min. Alpha DVD (Mon.- Thur.)
15 Min. Alpha Student Text (2 each Mon.-Wed.)
*15 Min. Alpha Worksheet Generator Pages (2 on Thur.)
*15 Min. Alpha Tests 1 per Unit (Friday Only)
When 7yo is finished with Alpha and Beta we'll do SM 3a
When 6yo is finished with Alpha we'll do SM 2a

9:20am
Morning Movement Session For gross motor skills (Structured Play)

9:35am
US/ Ohio History 15 Min.
15 Min. Memory Work (Mon.)
15 Min. Reading US History (Tue.) 15 Min. Reading Ohio History (Wed.)
15 Min. Ohio Plants and Animals (Thur.)
15 Min. Birds of Ohio Field Guide and CD (Fri.)

9:50am
Spanish 15 Min.
15 Min. Risas y Sonrisas (Mon. - Thur.)
*15 Min. Spanish Reader (Friday Only)

10:15am
Sensory Diet

10:30am
Sign 20 Min.
10 Min. Sign CD (Mon.-Thur.)
10 Min. Faith Speaks! (Mon.-Thur.)
My First Sign (Friday Only)

10:50am
Health/Safety/First Aid/Fire Prevention 10 Min.
10 Min. Health Books 1st 9 weeks (Friday Only)
10 Min. Health & Safety 10-34 weeks (Friday Only)
10 Min. First Aid 35th week (Friday Only)
10 Min. Fire Prevention 36th week (Friday Only)

11:00am
Morning Movement Session For Fine Motor Skills (Structured Play)

11:15am
Fine Arts 1/2 Hour
15 Min. Child-Size Masterpiece (Mon.- Thur.)
15 Min. Themes to Remember (Mon.- Thur.)
*15 Min. Drawing (Friday Only)
*15 Min. Can You Name that Classical Tune (Friday Only)11:45am


Spelling 15 Min.
10 Min. Sequential Spelling Level 1 (Mon.-Fri.) For 7yo
10 Min. Words from Phonics Pathways (Mon.-Fri.) For 6yo

12:00pm
Lunch 30 Min.

12:30am
Afternoon Movement Session For Gross Motor Skills (Structured Play)

1:00pm
Geography 15 Min. (or the length of the video)
15 Min. Were in the World is Carman Sandiego (Monday)
15 Min. Were in the USA is Carman Sandiego (Tuesday)
15 Min. Where in Time is Carman Sandiego (Wednesday)
15 Min. SOTW Map, Globe, Atlas Study (Thursday)
30 Min. Were on Earth Is Carman Sandiego (Friday)

1:15pm
Grammar 15 Min.
15 Min. Step-by-Step Grammar (Mon.-Thur.) For 7yo
15 MIn. First Language Lessons Yr. 2 (Mo.-Thur.) For 6yo.

1:30pm
Sensory Diet

1:45pm
Grammar 15 Min.
15 Min. Penmanship (Mon.-Thur.)

2:00pm
Grammar 15 Min.
15 Min. Creative, Journal or other Writing (Mon.-Thur.)

2:15pm
Afternoon Movement Session For Fine Motor Skills (Structured Play)

2:30am
Science 15 Min.
15 Min. Read (Mon.)
15 Min. Make Narration Outline for each section (Tue.)
15 Min. Write Narration Drafts (Wed.)
15 Min. Finish Narration/ Illustrate (Thur.)
30 Min. Experiment (Fri.)

2:45am
World History 30 Min.
15 Min. Listen to SOTW CD (Mon. - Wed)
15 Min. Do Student Pages (Mon.-Thur.)
*15 Min. Make Narration Outline for each section (Mon.)
*15 Min. Write Narration Drafts (Tue.)
*15 Min. Finish Narration/ Illustrate (Wed.)
*0 Min. Do Map (Thur.)
30 Min. Do One Activity (Friday Only)
*15 Min. Do Review Questions (Friday Only)

3:15pm
Physical Education3:30pm
Afternoon Math 15 Min.
15 Min. Alpha Online Addition/Subtraction Drill (1 each Mon.-Thur.)

3:30pm - 5:45pm Unstructured Play

[Ottakee]

I don't think we could keep up with that schedule. One phone call that I would have to take and we would be down for the count.

My girls have learning delays and ADHD. We generally school from 9-12 with one 20 minute break in there. I use ACE Paces for them. 12dd is more limited with her abilities. 11dd does Science, Social studies, Bible, Word Building, Math, English, and Spelling in this time frame.

Honestly, for 6 and 7 year olds I would NOT carry academics over to the afternoon. I would get them done in the morning with 1 or 2 sensory breaks and leave the afternoons for therapy, free play, outings with friends, errands, etc.

[godpoetry]

Looks like a very well thought out plan to me.

[Tami]

I agree. I would get core academics done in the morning, and spend afternoons on "school," but on the child-directed "school." Think crocheting, music, art, science kits, projects, playdates, outdoor fun, etc. There are some wonderful ideas here: http://christianadhd.com/learningathome.php

This works very wll for my adher.

[nitascool]

SO... You would move the "Fun" activities to the afternoon? We have 2 hours of activities that could be moved to the afternoon.

Or wait on the "fun" activities until we have finished the not so fun school? We generally finish a year curri. in about 5 months when working at their pace. As in me not limiting their momentum.

[Mama Bear]

It sounds as though your boys are working ahead of grade level and part of the problem may be that you need to keep them busy. I have one of those, she's 5, and I have one who would benefit from a very strict schedule, he's 12. How on earth do you pull something like this off with your age ranges/needs? I'm trying to imagine how I'd do something like this because I lose one or more if my youngest needs something (he's rather a lot of work). If I'm doing one on one work with any one of them, the rest take brain vacations. I've wondered about a mass ADHD diagnosis (for me, too) and then about how I could clone myself..... :rolleyes:

[Kathy in MD]

schedule. Because he was taught to do it, it works. It may not be as efficient as a strict schedule, but it's a needed life skill is to work independently. (That's not to say if I'm gone (he's 13) he won't play a game or watch TV instead.:rolleyes:

Here's how you might start teaching your dc to work somewhat independently, combined with the psych. recomendation. At the beginning of the day, tell your dc the day's schedule. This may need to be written with pages to be covered. (This is important for the SPD part, to let the child know what will happen and give him some control). Break your day into 30 min blocks with 2 assignments for each block. You can build your sensory sessions into this schedule. Gradually work it up to where you hand out assignments for the morning and even day. Anything not completed is homework. This may take years, so don't rush it. But by giving your dc their assignments ahead of time, they will know what to do if you are busy with another child or interupted by life. They may need a reminder to go to the next item, but they are still kept on a schedule. Also by giving out the morning's assignments, they may chose what to do when, so if they feel they need a break from heavy concentration, they may follow math with music.

[EKS]

I completely agree with Kathy in MD.

I think that in the long run we do a disservice to our kids with issues by making the homeschool environment fit their every need.

Over the past 5 years of homeschooling I have tried many things to get my son (who has dyslexia, APD, SPD, and has been diagnosed then undiagnosed with ADHD and Asperger's) to work more effectively. I have spent huge amounts of energy to get things to "work" and whatever I come up with tends to work for a while (a few days to a few weeks) but then we're back to the same old thing.

About three weeks ago I finally realized that whatever I do, it will still have the same result. The problem is that my son seems to think that it is my responsibility to make things work and that he'll just do whatever. Well, NOTHING will work if he doesn't meet me halfway.

So we are now doing things in a way that works for ME and the family as a whole (I have a younger boy whom I school too). My 11 yo is just going to have to adapt. He is going to have to meet me halfway. If he has some issue that is making it difficult to get his work done, HE is going to have to figure out what the problem is. I have, frankly, had it.

In the real world, in a job situation, the boss is not going to say, "Oh you need to have a break every five minutes? Oh, you don't like that I presented your tasks orally, you'd rather I wrote them down for you in different colors so you could tell one from another at a glance? That's ok!" I know, I was a boss once; people with too many issues get fired.

What's funny, is that in going over to doing it MY way, he is doing as well as he ever did when I tried to discover HIS way.

[Cadam]

I might suggest doing a "routine" instead of a schedule. That way if you are off by 10 min (or an hour) because of a meltdown or any other life thing, you can just move on from there. A timer to start and end activities might be a nice thing to have as well.

[nitascool]

The Psychologist did say that the biggest thing that will help our boys to stay focused throughout the day is to keep their minds and bodies balanced. Some challenging academics and then challenging physical calisthenics. So that is the biggest aspect of having a lot of activities. Those things which are less important to me are more likely to be dropped when their is a meltdown of one of the boys or a fussy baby day.

We have a timer that we use for school work. At this point I need to get the children into a more strict routine. Most things in life are geared around a schedule of some kind. I am not much of a schedule person and would probably unschool if it worked for my children, but it doesn't. So we are going back to the drawing board.

While I know that most life situations aren't run on 15 min. incraments... that is the real amount of time that they can focus at this time. I don't intend on letting them stay at a 15 min. attention span. But at this point we need to get them to pay attention for 5 min. So 15 minutes is a real stretch for my younger and just a little stretch for the older.

As I said before we have PT twice a month and OT twice a month and there are the real needs of my younger two children, field trips and errands that must be made. The schedule will be a guide for me and a predictable routine for them. (Something my oldest has been asking for for quite a while). I'm hoping that through all this the boys are going to learn how to work more independently.

The psychologist is walking us through the steps to help them gain more Independence. We have been giving our younger son more responsibilities with consequences for not following through. For our older son we have reevaluated his work and are trying to make adjustments in what is expected. We've begun to compile a "cookbook" for both of them so that they can do things more independently. I'm hoping these things will help them to eventually develop their own executive function.

[Tami]

Not exactly. :D I would alternate types of activities: difficult then easy, right-brained then left-brained. However, I would not assign specific assignments in the afternoon, but would offer "choice time." If "choice time" is not used appropriately, it becomes "chore time." :)

You prolly already do this, but do you limit media, video games, DS and the like during the week to promote more academic choices? Setting up the environment to learn is HUGE here.

Although I would alternate "types" of subjects in the morning, I would ALWAYS leave a dessert for afternoon if behavior goals are met. This may be a trip to the gym, a trip to the pet store, a trip to the book store, a trip to the coffee shop or library. Our other Favorite Afternoon is "choice time." This is a reward earned for diligence. Freedom is possible when responsibility is shown.

Joy to you!
Tami

[Tami]

I just wanted to quickly post that a timer has worked very well for us. It really encourages attentiveness. We have used a timer for 6 years! If she finishes early, the remainder of the time is free play.

[Kathy in MD]

That's always been a concern for me.

[Tami]

I do not accept sloppy work. It must be done to the best of dd's ability, or she does it again. They don't try that very many times!

[Jeanettee]

The way we did school was instead of having a schedule, we did History, reading, English, lunch, math, science (as much hands on lab as possible that was why it was last). We didn't put times to it, but as soon as he lost focus he would run 1-10 laps around the house (outside), push-ups, sit-ups, or jump rope for 5 minutes. Then start again. Standing at an easel or a board is better than sitting. Standing is active learning sitting is passive, I don't know why. If you need them to sit, try an exercise ball. By having the subjects in the same order every day it solved the need for a routine, but by letting their bodies tell him when he had to move he eventually could sit for longer and longer periods of time